There are known harvesting machines for various types of crops, such as sugarcane harvesting machines, grain-harvesting machines and forage harvesters. The purpose of such machines, in general, is to enhance the harvesting productivity of vegetable crops such as, without limitation, crops of sugarcane, sweet sorghum, wheat, soy, corn, etc.
In the case of tall and stalky plants, such as in the case of sugarcane, energy cane and sweet sorghum, the harvesters are machines designed to harvest this specific type of crop, due to their intrinsic characteristics. Therefore, the harvesting machine generally presents a fixed opening to receive and harvest the crop rows, that are generally spaced from one another at relatively fixed and predetermined distances of 0.9 m or 1.5 m, or yet machines intended to harvest two simultaneous rows within these spacing. Optionally, the machine for harvesting these types of crops may also present a variable opening, to harvest optionally one or two rows of crop with spacing of 0.9 m or 1.5 m between one another, or rows of crop with alternate spacing of 0.9 m and 1.5 m. One solution proposed for a sugarcane harvester with adjustment of the opening to harvest crops having different spacing is disclosed, for example, in publication WO 2014/026255, incorporated herein as a reference.
In turn, the grain harvesting machines generally have a configuration that allows the harvesting of various types of grains, wherein a header is attached to the front portion of the machine, depending on the crop to be harvested, such as wheat, soy, corn, rice, etc.
The forage harvesters, in turn, are machines intended to harvest and thresh a given crop for forage, such as hay.
The cultivation of sugarcane and sweet sorghum is undergoing a great evolution, both in terms of the development of new varieties of plants, and in terms of different planting configurations, always with a view to increase productivity, both with regard the quantity of tons harvested by hectare and with relation to the amount of ethanol and/or sugar produced per harvested ton. Additionally, there are also being developed applications for the generation of energy from the biomass of sugarcane or sweet sorghum wherein, differently from the production of ethanol and sugar, not only the part of the stalk of the plant is used, but also the foliage, and eventually the inflorescence. Sugarcane varieties intended for the production of energy, commonly designated as energy cane, are also being developed, in which it is sought to increase the quantity of fibers and reduce the amount of sucrose concentrated in the plant.
The problem is that the harvesters of sugarcane and sweet sorghum are sensitive to the planting rows, that is, they can only harvest the crop if the same is planted in determined planting rows, such as planting rows spaced by 0.9 m or 1.5 m or lines alternately spaced by 0.9 m and 1.5 m. If the crop is intended for the generation of biomass, the planting in rows may not be necessary, that is, the planting may be made randomly and in that sense, the sugarcane and sweet sorghum harvesting machines cannot be used.
One might replace the sugarcane and sweet sorghum harvesting machines with forage harvesters. However, forage harvesters also do not show efficiency for harvesting stalky and tall plants, such as the sugarcane and the sweet sorghum, aiming at the generation of energy from biomass, since they use a system that, almost immediately after the cutting of the plant, chops the harvested crop. This action of chopping, or cutting in small pieces, is disadvantageous in the case of stalky and tall plants, since it causes the plant to lose much of its mass, including its juices, into the environment, and thus an important part of the biomass that might be used for the production of energy is also lost.
In order to attempt to sidestep this inconvenience, publication US 2014/0174048, of W. T. Lawson et al., discloses a biomass harvesting system that consists, basically, in a sugarcane harvester that can be adapted by withdrawing the base cutting discs and other elements from the front part of the machine and installing a rollers device, in order to be able to receive the header of a forage harvester, for example to harvest a crop, such as a sugarcane or sweet sorghum crop, that were planted without a specific pattern of planting rows. This solution solves the problem, on one hand, of harvesting stalky and tall plants without a specific planting pattern, and on the other hand, of replacing the forage harvester in the harvest of such crop, avoiding the loss of a part of the harvested biomass, and thus taking maximum advantage of the crop.
The problem is that if a farmer wishes to alternate the crops, for example, due to seasonal or market factors, it is necessary to disassemble the sugarcane harvesting machine to insert the rollers device and assemble the header of a forage harvester, and in the opposite case, withdraw the forage header and the rollers device and reassemble the parts that make up the original sugarcane harvester.
Therefore, the flexibility for the destination of the crop is limited by the machines available in the market, or if one intends to achieve such flexibility, it is necessary to have at least two types of machines for different applications, or to realize constant alterations in the existing machines, which requires time and specialized manpower, the latter not always available in remote planting areas.
It is desirable, therefore, that the sugarcane harvesting machines have a greater flexibility to harvest crops having different planting spacing. It is also desirable that the producer may enjoy flexibility in the destination of the planted crop, either for the production of sugar and ethanol, or for the generation of biomass.
It is also desirable that the farmer have flexibility to harvest a crop planted in different planting rows or a crop planted without any pattern of planting rows.